Caged
by Takada Saiko
Summary: It's not the cage that keeps Rumplestiltskin. Set directly after Zelena tells him to get back in his cage at the end of Quiet Minds. One-shot.


Notes: I'm still reeling from last night. I had convinced myself that Bae wouldn't be the one to go this season. They'd already 'killed' him once, which makes it a bit redundant, not to mention all the many, many places they could have gone with his character. And worst of all: Henry didn't get to see his father as he was. Oh yeah, he heard it from Emma, but he's been hearing it from Emma (he thinks his whole life) what a scumbag his father was. Ugh.

* * *

**Caged**

She'd told him to get back in his cage. Those were the words she used. He knew she'd meant the kennel complete with the wheel and the mixture of gold and straw that littered the floor, but in reality the cage was his mind. Oh, it was quieter now, and that made the pain dig a little deeper. He'd heard Bae's thoughts, felt Bae's emotions since saving his son. He'd saved him, and then he'd let him go. Once again, he'd let him go. After all the promises, all the years, he couldn't save his precious son. He'd ripped apart the worlds to make amends, to tell him he loved him. He'd been willing to die to give Bae his happy ending. He deserved it, after everything his father had put him through.

Rumplestiltskin stood in the open cage, the dagger keeping him there rather than the broken lock. His eyes locked with the spinning wheel and he felt a twinge at the memory of a little boy that tugged at him as he spun, a bright smile that could have warmed the bleakest of winter days. "I want to spin too, Papa," he'd said, and Rumple had smiled back. Those days, even though they had nothing, had been everything. His chest clenched and he felt in that moment, as the reality of the situation washed over him and he knew that those dark eyes that looked so much like his own would never look at him again and that he would never hear his beautiful boy's voice again, that it might truly be the end. He might die then and there of heartbreak. He wouldn't be the first.

_Love has killed more than any disease._

He didn't though. The feeling just lingered there as if to tell him that it would never go away. The Dark One would never be free of it. He was immortal and he would _always_ live with this terrible pain ripping at what was left of his tattered soul until there truly was nothing left. It had been salvaged by hope and that hope had been destroyed.

A sob escaped as and he didn't bother to stop the tears as he loosed a howl of despair, not just tipping the offending wheel but throwing it. The cry echoed out and the wood of the wheel shattered and splintered against the cage. He didn't stop until it was in pieces, littered across the floor like the gold and the straw. Useless. Like he had been. Absolutely useless to one of the only two people who had mattered.

Rumple felt his knees give and he sank to the floor, his own sobs in his ears. He didn't care. There was no reason to be strong anymore. He'd been strong for Bae, to save him from a terrible fate. He'd faced the darkest evil that he'd ever seen to protect his son… and in the end that same evil had cost him his life.

"Well aren't you a mess?"

Hot tears were rolling down his face and he was curled on his side in the straw. He wasn't sure when he'd laid over, but there he was, staring at her shoes as she stopped just in front of him. "Go away," he rasped, barely audible.

"Oh, were you hoping for time to mourn him?" Zelena asked, her voice falsely sweet.

The little dark voice, the only one besides his own that remained in his mind, muttered all the things that he could do. Rumplestiltskin should stand up and rip her heart out or slit her throat. No, no, both of those were too quick, and while they were satisfy a brief surge of emotion, she needed to suffer. He'd turn the tables on her. He'd let her rot for a while, coming in and out during day and night so that she didn't know what was what and inflict the greatest pain that her mind could conjur.

_The only one that can do the hurting here is me._

Not anymore, dearie. He was going to tear her apart, ripping limbs from sockets and making her watch as he crushed her heart in front of her at the end of it all. He'd make sure she suffered first. Oh, she'd suffer, and he'd indulge every last dark desire that his curse put into his mind. No one could talk him out of it, not Belle, not anyone. He would make her scream for mercy and beg him. He'd laugh in her face, high pitched giggle and all, and let the imp run free on her. Everything that was hated, everything that was loathed about the Dark One he would bring down upon her. The worlds had never seen him as he could be, no. They had no idea what would happen if there were no boundaries placed on the curse. He'd been an oddity, after all, driven to it not for love of self, but for the love of his child. He'd been willing to give anything for his Bae, and now he was gone. The worlds would see what the Dark One really was, but more importantly, Zelena would see. It was her fault. She'd manipulated Bae into bringing him back. He'd been willing to die, willing to pay the price, but she'd used him. That was unforgivable and for that he would destroy her.

"You should never have brought me back," he muttered hoarsely, echoing the words he'd spoken to her earlier and not bothering to move. He didn't care what she thought. His only solace was that Emma knew now and if he was sure of anything, it was that he would never bet against her. Especially when she was emotionally involved in the situation. That woman had loved his son. He'd seen it. One way or the other, Zelena would be dead by the end of this.

He heard her low chuckle, her shoe connecting with his ribs, but he still didn't move. "How does it feel, Rumple, to know you're on the path to lose everything you love?" When he didn't answer, it connected again, harsher this time and he felt something behind it. The fact that she was clutching his dagger in her hand drove the pain deeper and he curled into himself. "Poor dear," she cooed, "are you so ready to give up?"

She hadn't seen it coming, and he might have killed had he had a moment more as he leapt up and used her surprise against her. Rage burned in dark eyes and all he saw was his son's murderer. Zelena whipped the knife out, though, and he was flattened against the bars and howling in pain until his knees buckled from it. "I'll kill you," he vowed breathlessly. "You took my son. I'll take your life."

Her laughter made him snarl. "I'll take so much more than your precious child," she purred and the pain raced through him again. "Stay here, Rumple. You're not to leave, do you hear me? Not until I give you specific instruction to."

She didn't have to close the door behind her as she left, her shoes tapping against the floors and then the stairs. He curled further into himself, the sobs wracking his thin frame. Bae was dead. His boy was dead. The choice he'd made to save his son had killed him in the end. His own desperation to do _something_ suffocated him as he lay there. It wasn't the bars that kept him caged.


End file.
